The Grizzlies went through a 45-minute film session Monday. Afterward, an assistant sat courtside, a MacBook Pro in his lap, going over specific replays of Game 1 with Tony Allen.

“There,” Allen would say, pointing at the computer screen, “I messed up there.”

On they went, as all NBA teams do, trying to figure out what went wrong. Allen was consumed by everything he saw.

Then the laptop closed, and Allen spoke to the media in simple terms. The shredding of the Memphis defense began, he said, with Tony Parker.

So you think you'll switch full-time to Parker?

“Wouldn't be surprised,” Allen said.

No one should be surprised, either, if Lionel Hollins instead switches his rotations so Allen's minutes more closely coincide with Manu Ginobili's.

That's because — more than anything an Apple could show — Allen needs someone to aim at.

Sometimes Allen aims with eyes closed, and he did during the 2011 playoffs. Then, he questioned whether Ginobili was really hurt.

Ginobili didn't know how to respond. At the time, he wore a brace on his broken right elbow — one that stopped him from either straightening or bending his arm.

So he was faking?

“It's for the birds,” Allen said then. “Everybody is banged up. You don't see me running to my PR guy telling him about an injury.”

Allen was similarly off Sunday night after the loss. Then, he angrily announced he was tired of hearing about the Spurs' history.

Still, Allen comes across as likeable and passionate, and his fan base embraces him. He's the soul of his franchise, fitting because he's also the one who came up with the “grit and grind” mantra of the Grizzlies.

That's how the FedExForum became the “Grindhouse.” And how Allen became the “Grindfather.”

Hollins has never been as captivated, partly because he sees the holes in Allen's game. The Spurs, too, would be hesitant to play a 6-foot-4 guard who can't shoot.

Gregg Popovich would also likely struggle with someone who sometimes wanders away from the team huddle to talk to the media on press row. Then there's what happened in Game 5 of the Oklahoma City series, when Allen stood up from the bench and accidentally (or not) tossed a shirt onto the floor while the game was being played.

It could have been a lasting legacy had the Grizzlies lost. After all, Derek Fisher's missed 3-pointer suddenly counted. With the technical foul that followed, something as silly as laundry put Memphis at risk.

His teammates said afterward they wanted to strangle him. Instead, Mike Conley told Allen, “I know you'll make up for it.”

Now Allen is pressed to do that, and the film he watched Monday showed why. He would stand on the perimeter with his man, watching as Parker drove into the Memphis defense, and this isn't what Allen does.

The Grizzlies put Conley on Parker, as they have in the past. Conley failed Sunday, but he's better than that. This month, he was named to the NBA's all-defensive second team.

Still, Allen is something else entirely. Only LeBron James got as many first-place votes from coaches for the NBA's all-defense first team as he did.

He's “a hungry dog,” as Kobe Bryant once called him. And he's not built to stand in the corner with Danny Green.

Worse for Memphis: Put Allen in the corner, and he will instinctively lean toward the action, leaving his man open.

Allen needs the on-ball challenge. He eventually got that in the first round when he took Chris Paul, and eventually in the second when he took Kevin Durant.

Asked Monday why it requires a few games in every series for this to happen, he shook his head. “I don't know,” Allen said. “I couldn't even tell you.”

Maybe Hollins prefers making this his mid-series adjustment. Or maybe he enjoys holding back Allen, only to unleash the rage.